The construction of a massive new headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security, billed as critical for national security and the revitalization of Southeast Washington, is running more than $1.5 billion over budget, is 11 years behind schedule and may never be completed, according to planning documents and federal officials.

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the George W. Bush administration called for a new, centralized headquarters to strengthen the departments ability to coordinate the fight against terrorism and respond to natural disasters. More than 50 historic buildings would be renovated and new ones erected on the grounds of St. Elizabeths, a onetime insane asylum with a panoramic view of the District.

The entire complex was to be finished as early as this year, at a cost of less than $3 billion, according to the initial plan.

Instead, with the exception of a Coast Guard building that opened last year, the grounds remain entirely undeveloped, with the occasional deer grazing amid the vacant Gothic Revival-style structures. The budget has ballooned to $4.5 billion, with completion pushed back to 2026. Even now, as Obama administration officials make the best of their limited funding, they have started design work for a second building that congressional aides and others familiar with the project say may never open.

SNIP

Funding ran far short from the start. In 2007, the Bush administration asked for $362 million, but the Democratic-controlled House slashed it to $6 million. They werent going to give Bush that amount of money  because it was Bush, said a Democrat who was familiar with the Houses thinking at the time and who, like other people interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Funding ran far short from the start. In 2007, the Bush administration asked for $362 million, but the Democratic-controlled House slashed it to $6 million. They werent going to give Bush that amount of money  because it was Bush,

There you have it BUSH"S FAULT

3
posted on 05/21/2014 7:08:11 PM PDT
by Mastador1
(I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)

A monument to the ill-considered and potentially catastrophic lurch toward police statism by a dazed and confused post-9/11 Bush and a cynical, opportunistic leftwing fifth column in Washington. Thank God this is a derelict boondoggle instead of the dangerously powerful nerve center of an authoritarian intelligence regime it was meant to be.

Defund the DHS, NSA, IRS and several more and who would really miss them?

Also de-fund the First Lady, who, without an elected office or constitutional authority has a fleet of aircraft, staff and budget at her disposal exceeding that of 136 heads of state.....................

Someone has to collect taxes - but it doesn’t have to be the Chicago Crime Syndicate... Lois and her fellow thug types need to be shown the door.

A flat tax could downsize that department nicely...

The NSA’s a metaphorical child of the World War II code-breakers. They have a spot... but it can’t be as the thug arm of the democrat party. And the DHS? Paranoid leftists who hate traditional Americans? I’m totally with you on that one... defund them. It’s the Ministry of Truth on speed...

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